Nearly 30% of Otago and Southland school pupils did not attend school regularly last year. While absenteeism appears to be high in the region, a Ministry of Education attendance report shows it is an improvement on the previous year (2019), when 37.4% of pupils were regularly absent from school. So only data from the last seven weeks of the term (when pupils returned to school) was used. Following the end of the national lockdown, the percentage of pupils attending school regularly recovered after a drop in 2019. "Our data analysis shows attendance rates to typically be in the high-80% to mid-90% range and relatively consistent over time.

Source: Otago Daily Times March 11, 2021 15:33 UTC